Southgate has a contract until December next year (Picture: Getty)
England boss Gareth Southgate has ambitions to manage in the Premier League again after being told by Jose Mourinho he can do any job in football.
The 52-year-old has been at the England helm since 2016 and has overseen the national team’s best spell since winning the World Cup in 1966.
England reached the 2018 World Cup semi-finals and were runners up at Euro 2020 after a penalty shoot-out defeat to Italy.
The Three Lions crashed out at the quarter-final stage of last winter’s World Cup in Qatar, losing to eventual finalists France.
Southgate has a contract until December 2024 but next summer’s European Championships in Germany could be his last major competition in charge.
The former Crystal Palace and Aston Villa star began his managerial career at Middlesbrough before joining the England set-up and is eager to prove himself in club management again.
Southgate also revealed details of his conversation with Mourinho, then in charge of Manchester United, where the Portuguese told him he will have his pick of opportunities when the time comes.
Mourinho is currently in charge of AS Roma (Picture: Getty)
‘I was 35 years old when I managed in the Premier League. We finished 12th and 13th, and I knew nothing like what I know now,’ Southgate told Sky Sports.
‘Everybody would talk about Middlesbrough. ‘Oh, he got Middlesbrough relegated’. Well, yeah, in the third year, we got relegated. But I had three years of Premier League management.
‘Without doubt, in my mind, the first season was the biggest achievement I’ve had, to go from captain/player to managing a multimillion-pound business in the toughest league in the world, and finish pretty much a par finish for where we were budget-wise.
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‘I’m confident in this role. I’m confident in whatever might be in the future.
‘Of course, I’m not going to be here (at the FA) for 20-30 years. I don’t know what the future will be. I’m very calm about that.
‘I remember talking to Jose (Mourinho) when he was at Man Utd and he said: ‘you know, when you’ve done the role you’re in now, you’ll be able to do anything’. Really? I thought that was probably right, but seven years into it, it’s definitely right.’
MORE : Gareth Southgate reacts to Euro 2024 draw as England avoid Italy and Netherlands
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